Crosswalk
by IHKF
Summary: Everybody has an end they must inevitably meet. That's not to say you'll always realize you've met said conclusion.


_Everything will be alright._

There's a voice somewhere, I'm not sure where, trying to convince me of this.

My chest hurts, it's heavy and it's so hard…. _so _hard for me to breath.

What happened…?

God damn it!

_What happened…?!_

There's a constant ringing in my ear I can't seem to rid of- I decide not to try anymore. It's the only thing I can trust right now. My eyes won't open.

I try to get up, to move around, but I can't move my arms. Why do they feel so cold? Why are they this numb?

I find some comfort in the warmth that fills my lungs. It's making it harder to breath, but I'm okay with that. I'm feeling something. That's good.

That's good.

I don't know what's going on around me.

Do I even want to know?

The warmth gets hotter and hotter, and it's now this blazing heat, and I can't tell what parts of my body are frozen and what parts are burning in the warmth of the flames.

I cough and the fire drips down the side of my cheek, soaking my chin at the end of its path.

The ringing dies down a bit, and I can some type of inhuman wailing, I know I've heard it before but I have no clue what it is at the moment. I give up and focus on the sounds surrounding me instead- and I hear voices.

I hear Ai-chan! What's she saying? I wonder if she's talking to me? No, I think she's yelling at somebody again, she's screaming. That has to be it. Somebody must have done something really silly this time. Her voice is cracking. I'm not sure if she's just that angry or if she's crying. It must have been dangerous.

I think I can hear Mitsuhiko-kun, too. What's the matter with him? He's so quiet. I try to ask but I cough again, wincing at the burning sensation in my chest.

But I'm still feeling something.

Somebody's responding to Haibara. It's not a voice I've ever heard before. It sounds all calm, but it sounds so sad, too.

Oh, I hear Genta-kun! He sounds angry- really angry. I feel vibrations in the walls surrounding me, so I know I'm inside something. I hear Mitsuhiko-kun pipe up and tell him to be quiet. I think that's the first time I've ever heard Mitsuhiko sound like that. He wasn't in a good mood. Did he get a bad grade on something?

No, that couldn't be it. I laugh at the thought inwardly, trying to smile.

My lips are so chapped and dry… I can't even crack a one-sided grin.

The fire is turning cold against my skin, and the warmth is dying down and exchanging its wetness to some type of dry crust, forming against my chest.

There are hands over my chest where the warmth is, and I realize with a startle that I have no cloth there.

I try to cover myself for fear of a lack of decency, but my arms won't move. I don't know who they belong to, but two hands are helping me, covering my bare skin in something soft. Thank god somebody has respect for the twenty-something-year-old woman with her shirt off! Whatever they use isn't hot or cold. It's about room-temperature. It is very soothing to feel something normal against me.

It sounds like doors are opening and I feel a gust of wind swirl around and past me, making me shiver. We're outside now, and before I know it, I'm inside again, the cold wind a distant memory. How did it happen that quickly? Where am I?

Who is carrying me?

I'm traveling quickly and smoothly. There's no bopping up and down like there would be if somebody were hauling me somewhere.

So how was I moving?

Finally, there is no more movement. I'm staying still. I can still hear Ai-chan, but Mitsuhiko-kun and Genta-kun are gone. They stopped following me a few seconds before. I notice that there are other people in the room. I can hear them moving about around me, picking up things and whatever else it was they were doing. There's somebody beside Ai-chan. They're not moving. They're not saying anything.

Ai-chan is saying something to them.

They don't respond.

I hear somebody giving out orders to someone else.

I cough when I gasp at the cold temperature the cloth around my chest has taken on. It's sticking to me, like I had gone swimming in my clothes.

There are people around me, doing things I can't quite comprehend. I have no clue what acts they are performing. It just makes me nervous.

My eyelids are still so heavy. I couldn't open them. I try. I try. I try, and I fail.

My entire body from my feet up start slowly going numb, and the voices are getting more frantic, their hands getting quicker and quicker at what they are doing.

My heart beats painfully in my chest and I slowly come to realize…

… _I'm dying_.

My entire body is numb now, and I'm trying to fight it with everything I've got.

My head feels dizzy and I'm light. My body feels so weak; all I want is to fall asleep- to make this pain end for one god forsaken moment!

I can't give in now! I can't just let go! Not like this!

But my memories come flooding back to me, everything that had happened rushes through my mind like the end of a roller coaster.

Something about an organization… Ai-chan and Sherry… an intruder… my parents… a warning that was too late, echoing from behind the invader… and a searing pain through my chest…

I feel like giving up.

My body is so cold.

I can't even think properly, my coughing has eased down.

I let go of my tense body, easing my head back into what I assume is the cushion of a stretcher.

I let myself die…

* * *

Then a warm hand reaches out and touches me, its fingers grazing mine before nudging in between them. Naturally, I weakly press back against the touch.

"Don't let go, Ayumi-chan… don't you _dare_ let go."

My eyes slit open, curious at the disruption, and he is here.

He had been too late to stop it, but he is here now.

I can't read his expression, but by the way his hand tightens, I decide my life is worth it and I start to fight again. I force a weak smile for him, and I can vaguely see him smile back. My grip gets stronger, and I hold onto him for whatever dear life I have left.

* * *

Haibara looked over at Conan, wiping away her tears. It was a futile attempt, on her part, to hide the amount of sheer anguish she was going through. She had no idea why she was even trying to anymore. "She'll be okay."

He glanced back at her, offering her an acute little smile before turning back to Ayumi. The heart monitor beeped slowly, letting the two of them know her heart was functioning normally. His hand tightened around Ayumi's, the patient fast asleep. She was far too out-of-it to know he was even there. "It's a good thing you came when you did. It's bad enough Gin killed who he did. If we lost Ayumi or Mitsuhiko or Genta-kun…"

Conan nodded.

"I know, I understand."

"Are you going to stay here with her?"

"You have to keep an eye on your family, Haibara. Mitsuhiko's in trouble, too." Haibara lightly blushed and glanced at her wedding ring. "Genta and I will stay here and take care of her."

"If that's what you want, Edogawa…"

He smiled again as she got up. The scientist reached down and brushed the brunette hair out of her friend's face, earning a twitch of her nose. "If you let anything happen to her…"

"I made that mistake twice before. I won't make it again."

She shivered at the mention of his past and current mistakes, the memory of a broken martial arts teacher still fresh in her (and his, definitely) mind. Deciding not to comment on it, she turned and walked out of the room, Genta walking in just as she left.

He gave Conan a confused expression, who in turn shrugged and grabbed a plastic chair, taking a seat next to her bed. "Everything will be alright."


End file.
